Interrelationships in Management: What Happens When They Aren't Present.

Interrelationships in Management

Business 310 (wi)

January 21, 2004

Interrelationships in Management: What Happens When They Aren’t Present

The four functions of management: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling must be present in order for an organization to implement effective management and to achieve desired goals. If one or more of the elements are not there, the organization may not achieve their goals. Schermerhorn stated, “These four functions of management and their interrelationships are shown at Figure 1.4” (2002,p.20). The functions of a manager are the activities that all managers must perform regardless of their authority, task assignment or specific industry. In this writing I will show how the absence of these four functions of management may prohibit an organization from running an efficient operation.

In order to be effective, management must plan, organize, lead, and control the use of its resources to compete in the business world effectively. In this essay I will give you an example of a company that is no longer in operation because the organization failed to effectively implement all four functions of management. I will then analyze what went wrong in the organization and then give recommendations for what the company should have done differently.

I will begin with a brief background of the company. LaMarca Engineering was a firm that focused on civil engineering and surveying. Associated Design Group, the parent company, wanted to run an efficient business and was concerned about labor costs and wanted to reduce them drastically. Management decided to implement a work measurement program that would tract each employees daily activities by having them record task codes and phases as well as the time spend on each project. At the end of each week after timesheets were input, the corporate office would run a staff utilization summary and compare them to five other locations located throughout the United States. Management would compare the performance of the employees to standards that were already set in place within the organization. The president of the parent company had observed different tasks performed and given recommendations to the LaMarca management on how to achieve a more efficient utilization results by setting time standards that should be considered when preparing each individual job budget.

After a year the LaMarca location was unable to meet the criteria set by the work measurement program and the office was closed permanently. It is often the case when a company or subsidiary of a company is doing poorly that some sort of program is set up to monitor the standards that are established. The parent company, Associated Design, had an obligation to monitor and implement the program based on poor sales and staff utilization. But LaMarca and Associated Design failed to properly manage the work measurement program once it began.

The first and most noticeable problem was the ...

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The first and most noticeable problem was the turnover in LaMarca management during the work measurement program period. LaMarca had three different managers during the time period set forth by the work measurement program and the managers were not always properly informed of what the progress was and where they were at during the program. Associated Design had set the objectives and never offered the new managers of LaMarca the chance to offer their questions or concerns; they walked into an already sinking ship. Management and employees saw problems with the program from the start and did not have a lot of faith in what was being proposed. Goals were impossible to achieve and when standards were met, there was no incentive given to the employees to do better and there were never any consequences issued if their performance was poor. Schermerhorn called leading, “the process of arousing enthusiasm and directing efforts toward organizational goals” (2002,p.21) it is clear that Associated Design Group management failed to follow through on these tasks that lead LaMarca employees to never believe in management or their goals.

Another problem involved the collection of data and reports. Many times the employees at LaMarca were performing several different job functions, which affected the tracking of their tasks and phase codes. The employees found this unrealistic so they began to turn in timesheets that were made-up because they found it difficult to account for all their time and without corporate watching over their shoulder, this was very easy for them to accomplish. The result of the made-up timesheets was inconsistencies in the budget sheets and final billings on the projects for the office. This shows a lack of planning and organization within the company and the program. Associated Design failed to recognize the instability of their program and how this would affect the engineering plans and end product.

One final flaw with the results from the program and the failure of LaMarca is Associated Design never did anything with the staff utilization summaries each week that were turned in. After requiring the employees to follow the program and track all tasks and phases, the information was not used properly to get the company back on track. There was not follow up on time recorded and there was no control; Associated Design failed to review LaMarca’s work measurement utilization or take corrective action to meet the companies budget on labor and goals. Reports had been turned over to the proper individuals but they never acted on the end results.

Associated Design did not have proper management in the corporate office or at LaMarca and the program began without proper planning. The company did not implement the four major functions of management: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling into the program. The work measurement program was implemented for the right reasons but without all four functions of management present, the company was unable to get the correct results.

One recommendation I would give is the involvement of the operatives, people who work directly on job, in the development of the work measurement program and additional procedures. This would enable the project coordinator to ensure fair standard operating procedures were easily implemented and understood by all employees including management. When management began to see the program was failing they may have taken a more hands on approach and sent management to oversee the daily operations they felt need improving and assisted the local management throughout the program. An incentive program for the employees would also be a benefit for them to achieve the goals proposed. In the case of LaMarca’s shutdown, Associated Design should have finished what they started and informed management of all results from day one. It has been shown without the four functions of management it is hard to share results or offer additional input to seek to minimize labor cost. Adjustments should have been made in the beginning and pointed out by LaMarca management to the corporate office whether positive or negative.

Organizations have several things in common; they consist of people with expectations who must work with one another to achieve stated goals. Many times projects or goals within an organization do not work out but it is important as in the example given that revisions to a plan be corrected in a timely manner and not swept under the rug. Often the case, if there is poor management in one area of an organization that it is in other areas as well. It is important to remember all organizations have systematic procedures that define the behaviors of all its members and the four functions of management are vital to an organization because implementation of these functions ensures the success of a company.